The Yankees made a hairpin turn when they decided Thursday to sign All-Star closer Rafael Soriano to become a set-up man and perhaps their closer-in-waiting.

Less than a week earlier, GM Brian Cashman had said he wouldn’t give up the first-round draft pick required to ink Soriano. But Hal and Hank Steinbrenner didn’t agree with his game plan – according to a source familiar with the Yankees’ thinking – and overruled him, giving the righthander a deal that could ultimately go to three years and pay him $35 million.

The overwhelming concern among the Yankee brass, the source said, was that the club was going into the season with an uncertain starting rotation and little protection for closer Mariano Rivera. The move leaves the team without the draft pick Cashman coveted, but with one of the best bullpens in baseball.

According to the source, the Steinbrenners were bothered by Cashman’s blueprint. One of the big issues was that Joba Chamberlain, a prized prospect yet to reach an expected high ceiling, was going to be Rivera’s primary set-up man.

Cashman had maintained his confidence in homegrown relievers Chamberlain and David Robertson, but Bombers’ braintrust did not. If nothing else, they saw Soriano, coming off a career best 45-save season with a 1.73 ERA, as a premium insurance policy they couldn’t pass up.

The Yankees did not add free agent ace lefty Cliff Lee and may yet lose lefty Andy Pettitte, who is undecided on whether to play in 2011. The Steinbrenners deemed the draft pick that Cashman so highly valued – the 31st overall in next June’s draft – a small price to pay considering the state of the staff going into the season.

Considering Cashman’s track record with making decisions regarding pitching, can you really blame the Steinbrenners for panicking here? And, while the Soriano deal is probably a mistake, this is great news for Cashman – because now the teflon G.M. won’t have this one pinned to him when it fails. But, it’s also great news for those who are not fans of Cashman – because it shows that ownership doesn’t think enough of his baseball acumen to build a team. The bigger question may be which great news is the greater great news.

FWIW, while the arrangement may not have been optimal, the Yankees functioned fine with the NY & Tampa factions, so if there is another split, I don’t think it will not have that much of an`adverse impact.

We now have a decent trading chip in #62, an excellent bullpen, and are maybe one starter away from a decent rotation, and a returning ALCS squad, many of whom underperformed last year and are due for a rebound. I’m not disagreeing with the fact that this was a stupid deal, but as stupid deals and owner meddling go, this does not compare with the Yankees of twenty years ago.

Whatever you think about Cashman, his survival in the GM role has very likely limited the amount of meddling over his tenure and if he were to vanish, it’s likely that meddling would increase, not decrease, which would be bad news for the organization.

I have one reason to support Soriano that I have not read anywhere else:

If you look at Mo’s work late last season, the numbers don’t tell the whole story. He looked shakier to me than he ever has as Yank. Though I forget details, he gave up some long balls which even if they were caught were very un-Mo-like. He also did not have the pin point control that he has in the past. But he still got the Ump’s calls that all pitchers like him get (see: G. Maddux).

The point is that Soriano is an insurance policy as a closer as much as a setup man.

@ ken:
I agree about the insurance policy side to this signing. If/when Mo needs time off, or in case of injury, there’s no one ready for that role. At least Soriano is ready for that role. And at 41 you have to consider these possibilities.

I have one reason to support Soriano that I have not read anywhere else:
If you look at Mo’s work late last season, the numbers don’t tell the whole story. He looked shakier to me than he ever has as Yank. Though I forget details, he gave up some long balls which even if they were caught were very un-Mo-like. He also did not have the pin point control that he has in the past. But he still got the Ump’s calls that all pitchers like him get (see: G. Maddux).
The point is that Soriano is an insurance policy as a closer as much as a setup man.

I think that a few other angles should be looked at here. Giving the Yankees a probable “lock-down” bullpen has psychological benefits that ripple through the staff as well as the offensive side of the game. Also note that Soriano having a high K ration keeps the ball away from the left side of the infield. Maybe that K in the play-offs keeps the winning run from scoring as opposed to the ball that dribles up the middle.

That being said there’s this “thing” in the blogosphere that has people, IMHO, over-using metrics when talking about a deal. I’m am definitely not an anti-numerical analysis old schooler. When I hear people complaing about “resource allocation” issues I don’t believe that all the “facts” are in front of them. Do sportwriters have the Yankee/Yes business statement in front of them? How many are aware that players are depreciated on IRS forms? Right now, in Jan., how many people/companies, on the bubble, bought season tickets with the thought that Cashman & Co. will have time to put together a top staff? I don’t know all the Club’s rationale on what they do, I only enjoy watching it come together, and if not why. Remember, ownership uses actuaries, but they’re not in the insurance business. They are in the entertainment business, and it’s useful to understand the difference. Hey guys it’s very early, this isn’t Pittsburgh, we’ve got Montero coming up, life as a Yankee fan is GOOD!!!

I think that a few other angles should be looked at here. Giving the Yankees a probable “lock-down” bullpen has psychological benefits that ripple through the staff as well as the offensive side of the game. Also note that Soriano having a high K ration keeps the ball away from the left side of the infield. Maybe that K in the play-offs keeps the winning run from scoring as opposed to the ball that dribles up the middle.

Soriano doesn’t really have a high K rate for a closer; at least, he didn’t last year for Tampa. He does have a high flyball and pop-up rate, and THAT will keep Jeter and A-Rod from having to field too many balls while he’s in the game.

I hammered on this last weekend, Mo is 41 years old, that’s a problem, and it could be a big problem. Injury, less effective, these are things that are a real possibilities. The team now has insurance. It’s better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. In the meantime they have a powerful one two punch for the 8th and 9th.

I think that a few other angles should be looked at here. Giving the Yankees a probable “lock-down” bullpen has psychological benefits that ripple through the staff as well as the offensive side of the game.

Not as much as you’d like to believe. Name some teams with “lock down bullpens” and how they were able to sustain success.

This is actually awful news.
If they don’t trust Cashman with personnel decisions, they should fire him, and hire someone they do trust. If not, they should let him do his job.
Owner meddling is how you wind up with the Yankees, 1989-1992, the Orioles 2000-2007, and the Astros 2006-now.

This.

This Cashman situation is starting to look a lot like Torre in 2007 as they seem to be laying the seeds of not renewing his contract after this season, and lame-duck managing never works out well (especially in New York). On top of that, Cashman is already in the prone position as every team knows he is beyond desperate for pitching and will surely ask for more from the Yankees. Heck, the biggest name to come up is Felix Hernandez, and we all know what Seattle did to us last year…

However, the Steinbrenners’ idea to leak this information is baffling to me. I can see why they took this route to publicly undermine Torre (and to an extent the hard-line stance they took with Jeter) as they have to convince a very fickle fan base their intentions are the right ones. But I don’t think Cash would warrant that much of an outcry if he were outed. And if he did use the whole “I’m going to Washington/Seattle/[insert crappy small market team he turns into leverage] and just watch how much of a genius I am when I build those teams from the ground up,” the Bros. Stein would let him walk if they really thought he wasn’t worth it (which they apparently are starting to believe). We’ve all been hearing about how great Cashman is at politicking in the Yankees organization, and he’ll certainly face his greatest challenge yet after this season.

If they don’t trust Cashman with personnel decisions, they should fire him, and hire someone they do trust.

From your lips to god’s ear…amen.

So you would trust the people who signed Soriano, to the contract that you admittedly don’t like, to pick another GM? Meanwhile the GM you hate would have made the same decision as you? How does that make sense?

If you look at Mo’s work late last season, the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

I’m not sure who you were watching, but I thought Mo turned in one of his finest years. Everyone is quick to remember how the season ended, (7.36 ERA on 9 H and 2BB over his last 7.1 IP, 8 G) and forget how amazing his year was up until that (1.03 ERA on 30 H and 9BB over 52.2 IP, 53 G).

To me, he showed that he has the ability to adapt. This year he started throwing far more 2 seamers than I have ever seen him throw. And, just like his cutter, its NASTY.

@ Raf:
Leaking this story only makes the situation worse for Cashman to do his job. A.) he already is feeling an immense amount of pressure to win with a team that probably can’t win right now and limited options to improve because every team in the market will be asking for the moon and stars from the Yankees. B.) If you want to fire him, I think they should stop with the politics and can him. To most fans, GMs are replaceable, where as star players and big name coaches are not as much. The “Yankee brand” doesn’t rely on Cashman’s image as much as it did Jeter or Torre, so why trash the guy in public? What do they have to gain?

@ Ryan81:
What do they have to gain trashing anyone in public? Jeter was trashed, and they still signed him to a dumb contract.

I see no reason to panic, problems will be addressed when they can. Making moves for the sake of making moves is counterproductive, no matter who the GM is. When was the last time the Yankees were ripped off in a “desperation trade?”

It’s as everyone forgot how well the team did last year despite extended sucktitude from Vazquez and Burnett.